


Neville Longbottom and the Fluffy Earmuffs

by NoctuaLusa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Herbology, Herbology Class (Harry Potter), Herbology Professor Neville Longbottom, Late at Night, Mandrakes, pink and fluffy earmuffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24590215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoctuaLusa/pseuds/NoctuaLusa
Summary: Neville Longbottom, herbology professor at Hogwarts, school for witchcraft and wizardry, works long hours in the greenhouses.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Neville Longbottom and the Fluffy Earmuffs

**Author's Note:**

> This was written with a prompt by the Story Shack's Writing Prompt Generator I decided to use only partly:  
> Write a 750 word story in the drama genre. It's about an expert gardener and should include headphones. Also use the sentence 'Do not leave me.' Bonus prompt: There seems to be no one left on the planet.

Neville wiped some earth off his hands and straightened his back with a sigh. He had spent the whole evening working in the greenhouses and night had fallen around him. The light of his wand reflected from the window panes and made the world outside vanish. In nights like these, Neville always felt like he was the only living person left on the grounds of Hogwarts, maybe on the whole planet. 

Oh, how he’d love to go back to his study, to drink one last cup of sweet tea before crawling into bed, sleeping dreamlessly… He yawned and shook his head. No, he couldn’t go to bed now. He still had some mandrakes to repot. His students hadn’t been as fast as expected this afternoon, and some plants still stood on his work bench. Why exactly did he leave these wiggling, screaming plantbabies until the very end of his work day? He sighed again, stretching for the pink and fluffy earmuffs lying in a shelf to his left. As long as Neville could remember, they were part of the greenhouses and loathed by generations of school children. He, however, had grown fond of them, shortly after becoming Pomona Sprout’s successor. “Take these as a personal present,” the former professor had said, her face wrinkly like an old apple. “They’ll be your lucky charm, my boy.”

With his earmuffs tightly secured, he grabbed the first mandrake by its green leaves and pulled. The babyshaped tuber struggled against his grip, its mouth trying to reach his dragon-gloved fingers. Neville suppressed a shiver. Since a mandrake scream had made him faint in his second year, he tried to avoid them as much as possible. It was only when he had dropped the mandrake into a bigger pot and filled it up with fresh earth, he realised that he had held his breath for the whole procedure. Sprinkling some fertilized water over the repotted mandrake, he smiled sheepishly.  
“Get a grip, Longbottom,” he murmured to himself, only hearing his voice vibrating through his skull, the lucky charm earmuffs securing his ears. “You’re not twelve anymore. You got this.”

And indeed: Although his arms were heavy and his eyes threatened to close here and now from tiredness, he managed to repot each and every mandrake without as much as a scratch. Years of training had made the young herbology teacher an expert in repotting every plant (even though his experiences with a certain devil’s snare still gave him nightmares). Neville grabbed one handful of earth to cover the last mandrake, when the creature looked him sternly in the eyes and said, with a pleading voice: “Don’t leave me alone.”

Nevill froze, his earthfilled hand midair, staring at the small crumpled face. He blinked, one, two, three times. Had the mandrake really spoken to him?  
No, he decided and shook his head decidedly. Definitely not – as his pink and fluffy earmuffs were still in place and, more importantly, mandrakes could only scream wordlessly, this was utter bollocks. He dropped the earth on the plant and decided that he really, really, really should go to bed right now.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! As English is not my first language, you may find some mistakes. I'm happy and thankful if you let me know in the comments.


End file.
